Red Hot Chili Peppers have insisted that they "had nothing to do" with the recent Netflix documentary about their former guitarist, Hillel Slovak.
The new documentary, The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is directed by Ben Feldman, looks at the late co founder, who died from a heroin overdose in 1988 aged 26.
However, in a statement, the band have distanced themselves from the project, insisting that they had nothing to do with it "creatively".
"Dear people of the universe, about a year ago, we were asked to be interviewed for a documentary about Hillel Slovak. He was a founding member of the group, a great guitarist, and friend", the statement read. "We agreed to be interviewed out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory".
"However, this documentary is now being advertised as a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary, which it is not", they added. "We had nothing to do with it creatively. We have yet to make a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary".
Elsewhere, Red Hot Chili Peppers have also said that they hope this new documentary will still "spark interest" in their late band member, Hillel Slovak.
"The central subject of this current Netflix special is Hillel Slovak and we hope it sparks interest in him and his work", they said.
On the project, director Ben Feldman released this statement: "It’s a true honour to partner with Netflix to bring The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to a global audience.
"At its heart, this is a deeply relatable story - about the friendships that shape our identities and the lasting power of the bonds forged in adolescence".
"What’s less relatable, of course, is that here those friends went on to create one of the greatest rock bands in history. I’m profoundly grateful to the band and to Hillel’s family for their trust and generosity, and to Netflix for helping bring this story to the world stage".
It had been reported in Variety that the film was secretly screened at the Cannes Film Festival last year, where it had been pitched to potential buyers, before being screened in New York and Los Angeles.
In other news, Red Hot Chili Peppers' producer, Michael Beinhorn claimed that the band's frontman, Anthony Kiedes is "tone deaf".
“Why did John sing in that song? I know originally it was him and Anthony singing lead vocals, but Knock Me Down being a requiem for Hillel, why not only Anthony, the deceased’s best friend?", he said in an interview. More on this from Nova here.
